In a talk given in the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in April 2013, Rosemary Wixom (Primary General President) quoted Thomas S. Monson (Prophet and President of the aforementioned church) who told of Jay Hess, an airman who was shot down over North Vietnam in the 1960’s. “For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to 25 words.”

WOW! Twenty-five words!! That is not very much. I used 85 words in the first paragraph just introducing the idea. What would YOU write to your family, if you had not seen them for 2 years, if you wanted them to know the message came from you, and if you had no guarantee you would ever see or communicate with them again?

Here is my message: “Life is the stories you can tell. Prayer is the answer. Trust God. Love changes lives. Learn. Bridle passions. Obey with exactness. I love you.”

Yes, life is the stories you can tell. Here are some more stories from our lives.Friday was “Cow Appreciation Day” at Chick-fil-a; everyone who dressed up as a cow received a free meal (main entrée, side dish, and drink). The lure for us was two-fold: a great story and a great meal. Living the experience was more fun that reading about it (sorry for you) and eating the food was more fun than looking at it…though I do hope that you enjoy the posted photos.

I also hope you appreciated the photos of the cow published previously on the blog as they were procured at a very great cost. Because he ate the pasture down more quickly than I anticipated and because his hernia made him a walking time bomb, we took the steer back to the action Monday. We purchased him at 627 lbs. for $393.00 and sold him a month later at 665 lbs. for $255.65. Our steer stories and pictures cost us about $150.00. Ouch.My husband is fabulous. Fabulous. I was heartsick about the money we lost on the steer; Lance provided prospective. “Tess,” he explained, “the way I see it is this. We did not lose $150; we got back $255.” I am still upset about the lost money but feel better knowing he does not condemn me too.One of the things I could have used the lost $150 for is theater tickets. Every year we purchase six season tickets to Hale Centre Theater because, as someone so profoundly observed recently “Theater works”. [See 7 June 2013 blog entry.] I just bought tickets for the 2014 season….and only purchased five. Chick will leave on his mission mid-2014. It is the beginning of the end of life as we know it.

I spent every morning this week teaching an “Extreme Summer Science Camp” to about 10 Ogden Preparatory Academy students. Because it is much easier to hike than teach, we spent most of our time hiking Ogden’s foothills: Waterfall Canyon, Strong’s Canyon, Malan’s Peak, and the Pond Trail twice. We also made leaf collections, surveyed aquatic insects, studied rock formations, created water color paintings, performed environmental analysis, and I read them Byrd Baylor books.

I promised a Sweetheart treat to those who made it to the top of Malan’s Peak with me. One young lady decided she was not going to summit. She was perfectly physically able but decidedly mentally done; the going got tough and she quit. Time ran out before I could get her up the mountain so, reluctantly, I let her turn back. She chatted very amicably with me on the way down. At the trail’s bottom she said, “Do I get a treat?” It would have been so easy to just say yes; no waves made, no confrontation required. She is a very sweet girl and one of my better students. I was so tempted to just hand her the candy and be done with it.But no. I pulled her aside, told her that she quit, told her that I did not want her to feel good about her decision to quit, and told her that I would not reward that decision by giving her candy. Sometimes being a teacher is just not fun.The young lady who quit was a participant in last year’s Havasupai adventure. In an effort to urge her up the mountain I said, “C’mon, [name], this isn’t nearly as hard as Havasupai. You were carrying a heavy backpack then. You can do this!” She looked at me and said, “My parents carried my pack for me.” Oh my. OH MY!! I don’t need to outline the lessons for parents manifest by that interaction. Suffice it to say they are multiple and powerful.Which reminds me of the song I quoted in the talk I gave in Church today……

In the play “Into the Woods”, the witch gives the wife-less baker some profound child-rearing advice. She says:

Careful the things you say, Children will listen. Careful the things you do, Children will see. And learn.

Children may not obey, But children will listen. Children will look to you For which way to turn To learn what to be.

Careful before you say, "Listen to me." Children will listen.I love that! Children will listen. They listen to the things we do and to the things we say. May the things we say, whether they be 25 word messages or 25 years’ worth of actions, be worth listening to!

Miles organized a neighborhood football game. The six boys played football in the park for 2 ½ hours, amicably calling their own downs, fouls, and goals. Finally, at 5:30 p.m., I had to call the game, a storm was threatening and dinner was calling. Everyone had fun, even me.